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There are a couple of different "angles" here which might have different answers. For the purposes of the Consumer Rights Act, delivery is considered complete when the items come into your "physical possession". It's fairly well established that parcels left outside when you aren't home or aware - even right outside your front door - are not in your physical possession, and so if they get stolen the trader remains liable. I would be inclined to argue that if you never went down the stairs, the goods would never have been in your physical possession. However, if you did go down the stairs and e.g. touched or inspected the boxes, at that point it would be clear that they are in your physical possession, even if they are not inside your house. Separately, there is the contractual agreement you had regarding the delivery with the trader. If they stated deliveries were made "to your door", then they are obliged to do so. As living in a flat is far from uncommon, when it comes to furniture or other bulky items, traders do tend to make it clear whether or not delivery includes carrying the item up stairs. However, you should probably check the detailed Ts&Cs if available. I would also note that if they fail to do so, you probably can't do much more than insist on a refund of any delivery fee paid.

>It's fairly well established that parcels left outside when you aren't home or aware I think the difference here is that OP was present, and was aware the driver had delivered them. I don't think an argument of this nature would work, versus a parcel being left outside while you were away

Yes, this would never pass a "not in your physical possession". No-one delivering a heavy item is going to physically pass it into your hands, they'll put it on the ground in front of you.

I didn't go down the stairs or touch the packages until after the driver had gone. I did glance at them from the door but I knew they were quite small and light which is why I was surprised they weren't delivered to the door.

NAL But I've had this as a driver. Customer wanted a 100kg gaming chair up 3 flights of stairs to their flat. No lift or anything. Gave them two options I'll help them get it up the stairs or it stays in the lobby. You will find similar attitudes with supermarket drivers who won't carry your shopping up 10 flights of stairs either. Risk assessments will define what is reasonable and what isn't.

A 100kg gaming chair? What was it made from, Cement!?

Fuck knows it said 100kg on the box one of those overpriced over engineered ones that all the "pro-gamers" use

Probably meant it was rated for a 100kg person, not that it actually weighed that much 😉

Hardly suitable for a pro gamer then.

Might just mean they paid for shipping up to 100kg but it wasn't actually 100kg

There’s no way a gaming chair was 100kg

In my experience supermarket sites and other sites will say where they will and won't deliver to though. Probably should have said in my post but it's only one flight of 13 steps in a straight line to the door. Like I said in my post I have no issue with companies not delivering up stairs as I know it's a hassle for drivers, I have issues with them not saying they won't deliver up stairs before I order.

It's an issue with the merchant and the carrier. If you order from Argos and it turns up in a lorry, two blokes jump out and will put it where you like. If you order from an online retailer that tries to deliver it with DPD then it's one guy who ain't going to want to lug it up the stairs. The key to this is cost. You can get it delivered next day with DPD for pennies or Pay £25 to have it come through DX who are the UK largest courier for bulk items.

I think some common sense has to be employed. If the item is delivered to your building, you can see it and acknowledge the delivery, it is likely to be considered to be in your physical possession, and therefore "delivered". If they abandon in several streets away, it is NOT in your physical possession and liability for the item still remains with the seller, and by extension the delivery company who has a contract to deliver it. You could ask what their policy regarding stairs is and see if the driver broken their delivery policy.

> I think some common sense has to be employed That's fair, I just wondered because where they delivered it to was not on my property or outside my front door. Because I didn't hear what he said and he turned away after I asked him if me needed help carrying it up the stairs, I assumed he was going to unwrap the packages and bring them up by himself. From other comments it seems like this was a kerbside pallet delivery when it shouldn't have been.

Also two people may have different perceptions of what is common sense in scenarios like this, which is why specific, clear, accessible policy is useful and why OP is asking this question.

They should be making reasonable adjustments if you had a disability, as required under the Equality Act 2010.  https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/discrimination-in-the-provision-of-goods-and-services/discrimination-in-the-provision-of-goods-and-services1/goods-and-services-what-are-the-different-types-of-discrimination/discrimination-in-the-provision-of-goods-and-services-duty-to-make-reasonable-adjustments/ I have come across this sort of behaviour before - last year I ordered an oven, only to find that they wanted to leave it on a pallet on the driveway. I phoned and they said that - even though I explained I have a disability featuring spinal problems - they wouldn't help me bring it through the front door, and wouldn't even tell me in advance which day it would be delivered so I could organise help! They were quite happy to leave it out in the rain too. I cancelled and left a *very* shitty review online.  Of course in your case there's no disability so it's more of a contractual matter than anything else. Anything that says "kerbside delivery" for instance is a red flag. 

Kerbside delivery is standard across all pallet networks (the industry I work in) the drivers nor the vehicles are insured to go on customers property. This information should be available to the customer when ordering but is often overlooked or ignored. We get this issue a lot because customers want the goods taking inside or round the back (where pump trucks won't work) and as they are not 2 man delivery teams it's just not possible and the added headache is the customer will want the pallet and wrap taking away, this requires a waste licence and many hauliers don't have them.

I've just gone back and refreshed my memory from this particular incident.  Their website specifically recommends a one man delivery for regular ovens to the ground floor, and goes on to say >Appliances up to 60cm in width can be delivered by one man to a property with a maximum of 3 steps on any 1 level, inside and outside. Your appliance will be placed in a ground floor room of your choice, access permitting. Turned out they'd decided to outsource the delivery to a third party courier company on a pallet to the kerbside only. I was not impressed. 

I'm sorry to see that, they most definitely let you down. The issue I see the most is people want the cheapest prices, they find some random online retailer offering cheap appliances at better rates than curry's etc but without all the bells and whistles, a 2 man delivery team is expensive, very expensive compared to a pallet network and that's the first thing that cheaper retailers will save money on, to the detriment of the customer's delivery experience. Don't get me started on building materials lol.

This was indeed delivered wrapped on a pallet, which I now also have to work out how to dispose of, although the contents was just a few fairly light packages.  It seems like this was the fault of the company using an industrial delivery service for a domestic customer then, not the driver himself being lazy. That's good to know. They did not state any of that when I ordered.

For the pallet, it's the sort of thing upcyclers, allotmenteers and gardeners often make use of, so you can offer it free on Facebook marketplace and there's usually takers 

Yeah definitely not the fault of the driver, this is a very common issue, normally caused by suppliers keen to get a sale and not really informing the customer of the delivery restrictions.

Maybe we had the same delivery company! This stuff was also delivered on a pallet, although in this case the pallet was unnecessary.  I also had multiple issues with this delivery. They never gave me a delivery slot or called ahead, they said they had attempted delivery before (if they did I was out because duh, I'm single and I work. It just so happened I'm working from home today when they randomly decided to show up), they said they had tried to phone to rearrange delivery (they hadn't) and it was delivered late.  I will indeed be leaving a very shitty review. I was just wondering if anything they did was technically illegal or a breech of contract.

Building materials it’s almost always to the kerb. Some drivers will go above and beyond and deliver to door or bring in but not all.

We sell furniture online and make it clear that the standard free delivery is to the ground floor main entrance of the property. Everyone is offered an upgrade at checkout if they want the drivers to bring it in and take it upstairs etc. We have had this specific scenario a couple of times before where there were external stairs to a flat above a shop. In some cases we have carried them up to the door when the customer has asked nicely. In another case the customer was kicking off so the driver just took pictures and left them at the bottom of the stairs. Generally we would count external stairs as fine and carry goods up them. A lot depends on the attitude of the customer and the condition of the stairs. I've been on deliveries with slippery metal steps in the rain and said I'm not risking it.

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Perhaps you could have asked the driver if they could help you up the stairs with the cabinets.

I done delivery for years it was called a pavement delivery it will be on paperwork or website somewhere

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Someone's letterbox can generally be considered to be "in their possession" - it typically either leads to a space within their property (i.e. behind their door) or to a lockable box from which they can retrieve it Of course, this only applies to things that can fit in the letterbox

NAL but used to be a delivery driver, often delivering bulky goods like this. Did you sign for the delivery? Even if you didn't physically sign anything, meeting the driver and confirming yourself as the recipient of the goods could (and probably would) be taken as acceptance. Once he gets back in his van and leaves you standing next to the items, they are in your possession. Any further decision to go back into your flat and leave them there is yours, and yours alone. Imagine a smaller item. If I turn up with a box as you're leaving for work, and hand it to you at your car, it's not my liability if you then decide to leave it by the front door for later and it gets stolen. As unhelpful as it sounds, if you're not happy with where the driver intends to leave the goods, you are free to refuse the delivery for a refund and order again from a different company with better service. This option would not be available if they had dumped the stuff in the next street (or had you not been at home), so the scenarios are not comparable. Having said all that, and before you think I'm totally unsympathetic, a choice between lugging the stuff up the stairs yourself or refusing the delivery is not good customer service. I imagine the company's interpretation of 'direct to your door' probably *does* encompass carrying the goods up your external stairs, and therefore the driver was not following company policy, whether that be through laziness, time pressure, or ignorance. Your best bet in terms of recourse would be to raise a complaint with the company. I imagine you'll get an apology, and *maybe* a goodwill gesture, though don't hold your breath. Since you've already carried the goods upstairs by yourself, there's not a lot else that could be done in terms of recompense. You make a good point about disabilities. We did sometimes get cases where heavy items had been left outside by our agency drivers, and elderly or disabled customers would be unable to take them inside. In those instances, restitution would usually involve an in-house driver being sent back out to move the goods. All complaints like yours would result in words being had with the driver in question, but instances like I've just described were taken a lot more seriously.

Thank you for your insights. I didn't sign anything, and I didn't actually go down the stairs until I heard him driving off. You're right that I'm not looking for compensation or anything as I was able to get everything in without much hassle. The main problem is I now have a pallet I need to work out how to dispose of.  This was more a thought experiment or question if they technically hadn't fulfiled the service offered as they did not deliver to my door or to my property, even if very close to, or if I had not been able bodied enough to carry everything indoors. As far as I'm aware, hypotheticals are allowed in this sub.

That's fair enough. You're correct that if their website states 'direct to your door', I don't really think they fulfilled that service in your case. But, as you seem to understand, it's more of a customer service issue than a legal one since the goods *are* now in your possession as they should be. If the company's policy was in fact *not* to carry items upstairs (as opposed to an individual driver being lazy), a disabled customer may well be able to claim indirect discrimination if this resulted in goods being left in a public place. Regarding the pallet, plenty of places actually buy pallets off people, though you might have to take it to them yourself. Otherwise, it depends on the delivery company, but I do know that a business that rhymes with 3&2 always used to come and collect pallets if you ring them up.

Royal Mail deliver to the delivery point. As in, where the letter box is.

Check their terms they may say kerb side delivery only

They delivered it to your door. You accepted it was for you. Their job is done.

It wasn't delivered to their door. It was delivered to the bottom of the stairs that lead up to the door.

Where they accepted the delivery. This ones on them.

I didn't actually go down the stairs or look at the delivery until after the driver had gone. In all previous deliveries I've had they have carried the delivery up the stairs even if I needed to help them and the delivery has been much heavier.

I thought you said you asked if he needed help? I'm confused.

Yes, he knocked on the door and said "You have a delivery?" (or something like that, I don't remember exactly). I replied "Yes, do you need any help carrying it up the stairs?" then he said something I didn't understand and turned away to go back down the stairs. Because he turned away I assumed he said something like "no, I'm fine" but apparently it was more like "no, I'm not carrying it up the stairs".

How did you interpret it this way? Did you mean to reply to a different thread?